Sam Huff wants Drew Brees to shut his mouth

Posted by Michael David Smith on March 30, 2011, 11:41 AM EDT

Sam Huff, the Hall of Fame linebacker who played for the Redskins and Giants in the 1950s and 1960s, always provides an interesting perspective on today’s NFL, from the viewpoint of someone who was tough as nails in his playing days and doesn’t think the league has changed for the better. Huff is often highly critical (as he was in discussing the league’s crackdown on helmet-to-helmet hits) and the latest subject of his criticism is Drew Brees.

According to Huff, Brees hasn’t been supportive enough of retired players, and as a result, Huff doesn’t want Brees speaking for retired players now as Brees takes an active role in the ongoing dispute with the owners.

As Dan Steinberg of the Washington Postpoints out, Huff is still in a huff over comments Brees made in 2009, saying that some of the retired players who want the active players to fight on their behalf are actually in financial trouble because of their own bad business decisions, not because their union isn’t taking care of them.

It’s not quite clear why Huff is weighing in now on something Brees said two years ago. But Huff, who was active in the formation of the players’ union, doesn’t think much of the players who are currently leading the pro football players’ labor movement.

“If anyone is overpaid, it’s Brees,” Huff said. “Why did he open his mouth?”

I agree Huff, Drew needs to shut his yap-hole!!
He’s doing nothing for you, us – the fans, or anyone else to get out of this lockout!!!!!!
Go home Drew!!! You’re a football player, shut your pie-hole and play football, NO ONE wants to hear you talk nonsense anymore!!!!

Could not agree more! Somewhere Drew Brees is again calling all current players and telling them to hold up their index finger like they are united or something . Remember that gesture Drew before the start of the ’10 season. Hope De Smith takes all your money in fees.

Can any of these older players actually dispute what Brees said? I think the NFL and NFLPA should both do more to help retired players, but at the same time the retired players need to rely on themselves a little more. It’s undeniably true a lot of them have had problems unrelated to football and to expect others to cover for you being stupid is, well, stupid.

This dude Huff is a quack! These retired players should be glad to have someone like Brees sticking up for them. The fact of the matter is, Brees is right! Not in every case, but a lot of the situations that these retired players find themselves in are their own wrong doing. Duerson anyone?

I agree with a safety net for former players but why does anybody, other than the ex players who spent all their money think they deserve to be supported in their retirement, most at an age of mid thirtys??

Get a clue what the rest of the world deals with. Without football, most players would be making minimum wage or be in jail.

Brees’ comment come from someone who understands how poorly some players manage their money. Why is this guy jumping down his throat for stating the obvious?

If anyone has earned their money in the NFL its Brees, he had to prove himself time and time again in Sandiego and then New Orleans, he was called undersized and he won a superbowl all while racking up ridiculous passing numbers without a top reciever. What else does he have to do to earn his pay cheque?

I’d like to know exactly what it is the NFLPA does do for the players from Sam Huff’s era. As many Packer fans know, Willie Wood is in a terrible way, and the Packers organization has done a lot to help him, but I have heard nothing about what the NFLPA has done for Willie.

I can’t be certain of it, but I’ll bet Huff finds Brees’ behavior as a union rep. to be a little on the self-righteous side. And like packattack1967 says, perhaps Brees would benefit from a history lesson or two.

If I were an owner, I would have a hard time taking these players seriously when in came to negotiating the CBA. Brees, who is one of the smarter ones, still sounds like a poseur whenever he opens his mouth about labor issues. He seems to have a much higher opinion of his business IQ than what would appear to be warranted.

Today is the first day I have honestly thought about giving up on the NFL. This has gone too far. The players and the owners do not care one bit about us fans. At this point I think it would be more interesting to see how your normal NFL player is making ends meet come October without a dream job. Most of us out there struggle just to feed our family and cringe when a child asks us for something like a new movie…. These guys have gone beyond greed.

You tell’em Sam, these players of today forget who paved the way for them to make what they make today…what these guys get today in bonus money is more than a majority of the retired players from 50’s, 60’s and 70’s and 80’s made their entire careers.

Thing is the players back then loved the team, the city and the fans and after the season had to have other employment to make ends meet.

I don’t always agree with Drew, I do agree with him on this subject. It’s quite impossible to support all players who make bad decisions and find themselves in financial crisis. Just take current players’ examples, down the road, how are players going to support Cromatie and his 8 kids that he had with 7 different women, Charlie Batch’s bad investment decision which led to bankruptcy, similar situation with Mark Brunell, Dez Bryant’s unpaid bills, stolen jewelry debts etc.

I do think Brees, just like all NFL players are overpaid compared to the average Americas. However, compared to the Saints’ roster, Reggie Bush actually makes more money than Brees with $11-$12 million.

The retired player’s retirement benefits are not better, because when they’ve bargained, they’ve always pushed for the most “money now” over benefits. They wanted every cent that they could get up front, rather than looking to the future. Then a high percentage of them quickly blow the money that they did make on unnecessary luxuries like fancy cars, jewlery, flash clothing and in some cases drugs. What’s left goes to the ex wife.

People can’t expect to be taken care of by their employer for the rest of their life, for a job that they did for a few years while they were in their 20’s. Players who are smart with their money have a nice head start in life when their football “career” ends at the age of 25 or 30. Guys who aren’t, soon figure out that life doesn’t end when you stop playing football , but jobs that pay hundreds of thousands of dollars are hard to find.

Athletes need to look at their income as a temporary windfall, that in most cases is not sustainable. If they use good judgement, most can live comfortably, own a house without mortgage, and generally be a huge step up on the average guy just out of school.

You tell’em Sam, these players of today forget who paved the way for them to make what they make today…what these guys get today in bonus money is more than a majority of the retired players from 50′s, 60′s and 70′s and 80′s made their entire careers.

Thing is the players back then loved the team, the city and the fans and after the season had to have other employment to make ends meet.

I’m with you Sam 100%

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Good point. I think the fact that players in Huff’s day had to work in the offseason also made them more conscientious about their reputations, and as a consequence, the players of that generation were more composed, considerate, and responsible.

Lockout economics notwithstanding, what do the majority of today’s players care what their communities think of them? It’s not like they have to work within their communities in the offseason or anything. Want to know the real root cause of the Dez Bryant’s of the sporting world? Follow the money.

I have to go with Breed on this one. If the players have major health issues related to their playing days, then, yes, the union and their employer, the NFL should step up and help them. However, if greedy former and current players are looking for a payday for the rest of their life and want to be bailed out for every poor decision, then that’s just wrong and Huff should shut his mouth.

It’s amazing how many people talk as if they understand the lives of NFL alumni, yet go on to disrespect them as if they are all profligate spenders or doddering old fools.

Huff may be upset if he feels the organization that he helped built doesn’t support alumni. For example, the NFLPA* had cut a deal with Electronic Arts to use the likenesses of NFL alumni in EA videogames, then didn’t pay alumni the $23 million they were owed. The NFLPA* made restitution, new management was brought in, but the current regime retained one of the main architects of the EA scam against NFL alumni wishes, and perhaps as retribution not only ceased programs that generated revenue for alumni, but have also refused to co-fund the pension program. (Today, the owners fund 100% of the pension plan to the tune of some $63 million a year, and that number is only going to go up as more players become eligible.)

Meanwhile, there are published accounts of NFLPA* execs trying to claim that the NFL owners pay nothing to retired player pensions and benefits, perhaps as an excuse for their own inaction.

So here’s an idea: why doesn’t the NFLPA* state what they’re going to do about NFL alumni, particularly the ones that retired before 1993. I’m sure there are a lot of alumni (other than, say, Carl Eller, Priest Holmes, Obafemi Ayanbadejo, and Ryan Collins) who would like to hear that as well.

I go with Huff on this one – he comes from an era where the players had to get off-season jobs to make ends meet. Brees should just keep his mouth shut but, since that is obviously too late, he should perhaps apologize to his elders – those who paved the way for him and all the others.
Maybe someday he will get around to thanking the fans who built the game with their support for generations and generations – many of them were eventually squeezed out of being able to afford to go the games by the increasing prices that the NFL charges – that’s the NFL’s way of saying thanks.

Sam Huff is just a washed up old jealous coot. Ha Ha. Your time has passed you by dawg. Even if Brees shut up or dropped dead you would still be just a washed up old jealous coot. Ha Ha. All the old washed up coots whose NFL Career is over needs to shut up. Not Cool Brees. Geaux Saints!

Some of you fans need a history lesson too. Huff was a wrecking machine in his days with the Giants and Skins back when football was a man’s game. Back then you could hit a QB without getting flagged. Brees wouldn’t have lasted long in that era. Also Huff came from coal miners and made a great living and still does because of hard work and good decisions. Players like Huff are rare in today’s game.

“Huff, who was active in the formation of the players’ union, doesn’t think much of the players who are currently leading the pro football players’ labor movement.”
Since the NFL was founded in 1920, you have to assume that there were actually retired players around when the NFLPA was formed. What exactly did Huff and the other founders of the union do for those who had gone before them when they had the chance? Granted the money was a lot less, but apparantly the issue wasn’t important enough to bring up until if affected their own generation of players. At least the current players and union have made some effort to help.

I hate when old players think that they are entitled to present day benefits. Former players should blame themselves for the mess that they are in today. It was under their watch that all this happened. They are the ones that hired all of the Unions previous negotiators. They are the ones that ratified all of the CBA deals that they played under. Now they want the current players to bail them out of the mess they created.
Shame on you Sam. You and your Alumni need to stand back, SHUT UP and the the current players deal with the owners the way you should have.

LOL, who is Huff? Bree’s was right on the money for making those comments, how many of these football players make millions of dollars and now they want current players to bail them out because of their own financial mismanagement’s? Again players not doing anything to help their cause.
The players are lucky in general that high profile guys are actually being the face men for the players union. The Tom Bradys, Mannings, and Bree’s are not going to be in financial trouble if they never play again.

SOME, emphasis on some, retired players are in financial trouble due to poor business decisions. That is not the fault of the nflpa* (they don’t deserve caps as they are a faux organization) or its members.

However, there are also plenty of retired players who are suffering from injuries sustained during their playing days, or are in financial trouble as a result of not making millions playing in the NFL.

Brees should watch his tongue and be less general as he is a very vocal member of the current nflpa*. Don’t be a smug arse, you’ll be in Huff’s shoes soon enough.

Huff comes off a little whiney about the money, but is essentially correct. Active players care more for their bank, and any future pensions THEY may get, than what those who played before them received.

God I would love to have a job where I play videogames for a living, retire after 5 years, and then 20 years later complain that my former employer isn’t doing enough to support me financially. I would also love it if the newspapers would pay attention to me when I complain that the current employees aren’t fighting hard enough for me and my carpel tunnel syndrome that developed during my best years. What a life!

“Brees should watch his tongue and be less general as he is a very vocal member of the current nflpa*. Don’t be a smug arse, you’ll be in Huff’s shoes soon enough.”

…He said the same thing you said. “There’s some guys out there that have made bad business decisions.” He didn’t ever make it seem like all of them did it.

“Active players care more for their bank, and any future pensions THEY may get, than what those who played before them received.”

And retired players only ever cared about money THEY would receive, whether it was during or after their career. And there’s nothing wrong with that. How many of us care or look after those who retired before us?

People can’t expect to be taken care of by their employer for the rest of their life, for a job that they did for a few years while they were in their 20′s.
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Why not? That is how the government works.

Don’t you love how all the NFL players stick together? Some tough times and they all fall apart, law troubles, money problems, and finger pointing. That is right, they are grown ups and they are smart enough to see the owners books and make rash decesions. These men are looking more like boys as each day goes by.

Some of the old timers are in trouble because of bad decisions, and some are in good shape because of good decisions and also good luck, so I see the point that the newer players seem to forget who help pave the way for them to make the big dollars today. No one makes it totally on there own, we all had a hand helping us be successful, could be your parents or older brother, or a older co-worker who help make things better at work, or a boss who gave us a break, so be thankful of those who went before us, we should appreciate them, the players like Jim Brown and Curt Fludd C Sp ) in baseball help open the door for those who follow. Sermon over. Bill

To the ones who dont even know who Huff is why do you even open your mouth and show your stupidity?

The guys that played back then worked in the offseason to make a living. These are the guys that made the NFL and made it possible for Brees to enjoy his 7 mil a year. Huff still does radio work so im sure he isnt hurting for money but when you have these idiots in the league now pissing away millions and wanting more shouldnt someone say something? The NFL offered to put more money to retired players and Brees and that polititian they hired got up and walked out.

And please you fantasy football morons that know nothing about the NFL stick to commenting on TMZ stories.

If former players are disabled because of NFL injuries, that’s one thing. But these former players signed their contracts and must have thought it was a pretty good deal at the time. No, they don’t make what players make today, but that doesn’t mean someone is shafting them. The job simply pays more today than it did 50 years ago. That’s not the current players’ fault.

Did you see Jimmy Stewart and Cary Grant start bitching that somebody owes them when Tom Hanks and Will Smith started getting $20 million a movie? No. Because they were paid for the job they did at a rate that was reasonable at the time they did it.